A group of Iraqi labor leaders were in the
U.S. to attend the AFL-CIO Convention and participate in events organized by U.S. Labor Against the War. They want to bring international attention to the lack of a
basic labor law in Iraq guaranteeing the right to unionize without
repression. Last week the AFL-CIO adopted a resolution defending Iraqi labor
rights. Amy Goodman interviewed two of the union leaders, Rasim Awadi and Falah Alwan.
[transcript]
Congress will vote soon on whether to pony up another $33 billion to pay for escalating the war in Afghanistan. Take 3 minutes to make a call to let your Congress member knowyou want them to vote against throwing any more money into the Afghan sinkhole. (Learn more)
Theres a bill that would require a timeline for the removal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, but Congress needs to hear that you want them to support it.
Sign a letter to your congressperson at http://rethinkafghanistan.com.
Iraqi DC Consulate Picketed Over Violations of Labor Rights
Labor Rights "Fundamental" To Iraqi Democracy
Thursday, April 15, 2010
(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)
Charging that the Iraqi
government is using the same laws that
Saddam Hussein used to “attack workers and prevent trade union
organization,” dozens of labor rights activists rallied outside the
Iraqi
Consulate in Dupont Circle at noon yesterday demanding an end to the
“systematic abuse” of workers and unions in Iraq. “Hey Iraq it’s union
time – organizing is not a crime!” chanted the demonstrators as they
brandished signs reading “Democracy for Iraqi Workers” and “Labor Rights
Are Human Rights” under the midday sun. Oppressive working conditions in
much
of Iraq – it is illegal for workers to form a union and strike – make
Iraq
“one of the most dangerous places in the world for workers who are
trying to
organize,” Jim Catterson from the International Confederation of
Chemical,
Energy, Mine and General Workers’ Union told the crowd. “Workers are
being
sent into exile to places where their lives are in jeopardy just because
they
are unionizing for better conditions. It’s time now that Iraq accepted
freedom
of association!” Stanley Gacek -- Associate Director of the AFL-CIO
International Department – called on the American union movement to
stand in
solidarity with the workers of Iraq. “There will be no democracy in Iraq
until
the Iraqi government passes labor law reform to allow freedom of
association and
protect the rights of workers who are trying to organize,” he said. “The
Iraqi government needs to end the direct political interference by
authorities
into workers’ organizing campaigns now.” –
report/photo
by Adam Wright
We were told back in 2002 that Iraq had weapons of
mass destruction.
The previous administration even pursued torture to try
to extract false confessions in order to justify the war.
It is time to tell
the truth.
The truth is we should not have prosecuted a war against the
Iraqi people.
The truth is the Democratic Senate could have stopped the Iraq
war in 2002.
The truth is we Democrats were given control of Congress in 2006
to end the war.
The truth is this bill continues a disastrous war, which
has cost the lives of thousands of our soldiers.
The truth is the occupation
has fueled the insurgency.
The truth is the Iraq war will cost
the American and the Iraqi people trillions of dollars and as many as a
million innocent Iraqis have lost their lives as a result of this
war.
'Don't tell the American people that you are ending the war by
continuing to fund the war.
Don't tell the American people that the war will
end when their plans leave 50, 000 troops in Iraq.
Don't tell the
American people that the way out of Afghanistan is to escalate our
presence.
'Get out of Iraq. Get out Afghanistan. Come
home America.'
Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), speaking on a supplemental
appropriations bill that would continue to fund the wars in Iraq and
Afghanistan
May 14, 2009
It's OUR Money. See how Congress spends it!
How they tell us they spend it.
The Government
Deception
The
pie chart below is the government view of the budget. This is a distortion of
how our income tax dollars are spent because it includes Trust Funds (e.g.,
Social Security), and the expenses of past military spending are not distinguished
from nonmilitary spending. For a more accurate representation of how your
Federal income tax dollar is really spent, see the large chart
How they ACTUALLY Spend it!
Total
Outlays (Federal Funds):
$2,650 billion MILITARY: 54% and $1,449 billion
NON-MILITARY: 46% and $1,210 billion
From the day the
dictatorship fell, Iraqi workers have demanded the right to organize their own
unions, free of government interference. They have demanded all of the rights
established by the International Labour Organization - foremost the rights to
freely organize, bargain and, when necessary, to strike. The new Iraqi
Constitution calls for the adoption of a basic labor law that recognizes and
codifies these rights.
The Maliki regime
has instead ordered labor elections in June in which workers are to designate
their unions and elect union leadership. However, workers in all public
enterprises (including the entire oil industry) are barred from voting, and the
government retains the right to disqualify union leaders chosen by the workers
in those elections. The elections will apparently result in only one
government-approved labor federation, rather than providing union pluralism
required by ILO standards (and already established in fact by the workers
themselves in the variety of labor organizations they created after the
overthrow of Saddam Hussein).
It
is in this context that John Sweeney, President of the AFL-CIO, and Guy Rider,
General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), have
written strong protests to Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki.
Show your support for the emerging labor movement in Iraq by donating to the Iraqi Labor Solidarity Fund. Funds will be used to support the labor movement in Iraq and to support USLAW's international solidarity activities.
Big Oil makes a grab for Iraq's black gold. Bush tries to ram new oil law down the throats of the Iraqi parliament. If adopted, foreign oil companies would be able to negotiate control over Iraqi's oil (and the lion's share of the profits) for more then 30 years.
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